The invention relates generally to apparatus for use in treating proliferative tissue disorders, and more particularly to an apparatus for the treatment of such disorders in the body by the application of radiation.
Malignant tumors are often treated by surgical resection of the tumor to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Infiltration of the tumor cells into normal tissue surrounding the tumor, however, can limit the therapeutic value of surgical resection because the infiltration can be difficult or impossible to treat surgically. Radiation therapy can be used to supplement surgical resection by targeting the residual tumor margin after resection, with the goal of reducing its size or stabilizing it. Radiation therapy can be administered through one of several methods, or a combination of methods, including external-beam radiation, stereotactic radiosurgery, and permanent or temporary interstitial brachytherapy. The term xe2x80x9cbrachytherapy,xe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to radiation therapy delivered by a spatially confined radioactive material inserted into the body at or near a tumor or other proliferative tissue disease site. Owing to the proximity of the radiation source, brachytherapy offers the advantage of delivering a more localized dose to the target tissue region.
For example, brachytherapy is performed by implanting radiation sources directly into the tissue to be treated. Brachytherapy is most appropriate where 1) malignant tumor regrowth occurs locally, within 2 or 3 cm of the original boundary of the primary tumor site; 2) radiation therapy is a proven treatment for controlling the growth of the malignant tumor; and 3) there is a radiation dose-response relationship for the malignant tumor, but the dose that can be given safely with conventional external beam radiotherapy is limited by the tolerance or normal tissue. In brachytherapy, radiation doses are highest in close proximity to the radiotherapeutic source, providing a high tumor dose while sparing surrounding normal tissue. Interstitial brachytherapy is useful for treating malignant brain and breast tumors, among others.
Interstitial brachytherapy is traditionally carried out using radioactive seeds such as 125I seeds. These seeds, however, produce inhomogeneous dose distributions. In order to achieve a minimum prescribed dosage throughout a target region of tissue, high activity seeds must be used, resulting in very high doses being delivered in some regions in proximity to the seed or seeds which can cause radionecrosis in healthy tissue.
Williams U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,582, entitled xe2x80x9cTumor Treatment,xe2x80x9d describes a method and apparatus for treating tissue surrounding a surgically excised tumor with radioactive emissions to kill any cancer cells that may be present in the tissue surrounding the excised tumor. In order to implement the radioactive emissions, Williams provides a catheter having an inflatable balloon at its distal end that defines a distensible reservoir. Following surgical removal of a tumor, the surgeon introduces the balloon catheter into the surgically created pocket left following removal of the tumor. The balloon is then inflated by injecting a fluid having one or more radionuclides into the distensible reservoir via a lumen in the catheter.
The apparatus described in Williams solves some of the problems found when using radioactive seeds for interstitial brachytherapy, but leaves some problems unresolved. The absorbed dose rate at a target point exterior to a radioactive source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the radiation source and the target point. As a result, where the radioactive source has sufficient activity to deliver a prescribed dose, say 2 centimeters into the target tissue, the tissue directly adjacent the wall of the distensible reservoir, where the distance to the radioactive source is very small, may still be overly xe2x80x9chotxe2x80x9d to the point where healthy tissue necrosis may result. In general, the amount of radiation desired by the physician is a certain minimum amount that is delivered to a region up to about two centimeters away from the wall of the excised tumor. It is desirable to keep the radiation that is delivered to the tissue in the target treatment region within a narrow absorbed dose range to prevent over-exposure to tissue at or near the reservoir wall, while still delivering the minimum prescribed dose at the maximum prescribed distance from the reservoir wall.
There is still a need for an instrument which can be used to deliver radiation from a radioactive source to target tissue within the human body with a desired intensity and at a predetermined distance from the radiation source without over-exposure of body tissues disposed between the radiation source and the target.
The present invention solves the problems described above by providing an interstitial brachytherapy apparatus for delivering radioactive emissions to an internal body location. The apparatus includes a catheter body member having a proximal end and distal end, an inner spatial volume disposed proximate to the distal end of the catheter body member, an outer spatial volume defined by an expandable surface element disposed proximate to the distal end of the body member in a surrounding relation to the inner spatial volume, and a radiation source disposed in the inner spatial volume. The inner and outer spatial volumes are configured to provide an absorbed dose within a predetermined range throughout a target tissue. The target tissue is located between the outer spatial volume expandable surface and a minimum distance outward from the outer spatial volume expandable surface. The predetermined dose range is defined as being between a minimum prescribed absorbed dose for delivering therapeutic effects to tissue that may include cancer cells, and a maximum prescribed absorbed dose above which healthy tissue necrosis may result.
In different embodiments, the inner spatial volume can be defined by a distensible polymeric wall containing radioactive source material which can be a fluid material, by a solid radioactive source, or by a region containing a plurality of solid radioactive sources. The outer spatial volume is defined by an expandable surface element that may be, for example, an inflatable polymeric wall or an expandable cage. The expandable surface element can cause tissue to conform to its intended shape, and preferably, the apparatus creates absorbed isodose profiles in the target tissue that are substantially similar in shape to the expandable surface element in substantially three dimensions.
The invention also provides a method for treating a proliferating tissue disease using interstitial brachytherapy at an internal body location. The method includes surgically creating access to the proliferating tissue within a patient and surgically resecting at least a portion of the proliferating tissue to create a resection cavity within body tissue. An interstitial brachytherapy apparatus for delivering radioactive emissions as described above is then provided and intra-operatively placed into the resection cavity. After a prescribed absorbed dose has been delivered to tissue surrounding the apparatus, the apparatus is removed. The radioactive source material may be placed into the interstitial brachytherapy apparatus after the apparatus is placed in the resection cavity, and may be removed before the apparatus is removed. The method has particular applications to brain and breast cancers.